Resilience and transmittance of COVID-19 from solid material surfaces of built environment

The activity of the virus on a given surface depends on its structure but also on e.g. the surrounding temperature, humidity, and the properties of the surface. Currently the available information on the CoV-2 resilience and transmittance from solid surfaces is scarce, somewhat contradictory and quite limited to analyses of small specimen populations mostly in standard conditions. The information of coronavirus persistence on surfaces is lacking reliable data with high relevance to living environment outside hospital laboratories.

The novelty of the work arises from conditions of testing and linking them with surface properties to the inactivation mechanisms of coronaviruses (e.g. RNA release and loss of spike proteins and the envelope). This investigation will yield information on the role of surface transmittance hazard of COVID-19 beyond the current state-of-the-art. Wide array of materials are monitored for time-dependent stability and infectivity in different solar, humidity and temperature variations that are considered relevant as indoor and outdoor conditions in different seasons. Specimen investigated include laboratory fabricated and commercial grade products.